 Old Conservatoire Painting by Hérine Fourie |  Jan Bouws' class in Amsterdam in 1946 Click for complete photo and letter by his pupil, Hans Knap |
1902-1978
Jan Bouws was born on 28 July, 1902, in Purmerend, Holland. He studied at the
University of Amsterdam and taught at the Watergraafsmeerse Schoolvereniging in
Amsterdam Oost, Holland, where he also conducted a children's choir. He studied
Musicology at the Amsterdam University in his free time and developed a piano
teaching system which is still widely used (Het eerste Pianoboek, 12 Liedjes
voor Piano, Het tweede Pianoboek, Het derde Pianoboek en 20 Speelliedjes van
Overal).
Jan Bouws sometimes collaborated on the South Africa program for the Dutch
Broadcast Corporation. He spoke excellent French and Afrikaans.
Jan and his wife Juliana emigrated to South Africa in 1960 where he was
appointed lecturer in Music at the University of Stellenbosch, where he
obtained a DPhil degree in 1965 and lectured in Music until 1972.
Bouws contributed extensively to the South African Music Encyclopedia, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart and the Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa. He published articles on
musicology and music history in journals in Holland, Belgium, Germany,
Switzerland, Hungary and Denmark.
As a composer of songs on Afrikaans texts, he became especially known for Op my ou ramkietjie (text by C.L. Leipoldt), now considered by many to be a folk song.
Jan Bouws was married to Juliana van Heijningen, an accomplished encyclopedist. At the age of 93 (2003) she still enjoys her beloved Stellenbosch. They had two sons, Niels and Jan. Jan Bouws died on 26 January 1978 in Parow .
| Het eerste Pianoboek 12 Liedjes voor Piano Het tweede Pianoboek Het derde Pianoboek 20 Speelliedjes van Overal 1946: Musiek en Suid-Afrika 1957: Suid-Afrikaanse komponiste van Vandag en Gister 1958: Die Afrikaanse Volkslied 1961: Woord en Wys van die Afrikaanse Lied | 1962: Die Volkslied, weerklank van 'n volk se hartklop 1964: Maatgespeel (Essays on music that have appeared in Die Burger, Die Huisgenoot, Res Musicae, Die Sondagblad, Standpunte, Die Taalgenoot, and Tydskrif vir Letterkunde.) 1966: Die musieklewe van Kaapstad (1800-1850) en sy verhouding tot die musiekkultuur van Wes-Europa 1968: Die volkslied, deel van ons erfenis 1971: Komponiste van Suid-Afrika 1972: Geskiedenis van die musiekonderwys in Suid-Afrika 1982: Solank daar musiek is ... (Edited by Juliana Bouws-Van Heijningen.) Co - author of the South African Music Encyclopedia and also of English, Dutch, Flemish and German music encyclopedias. |
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